


Honor and Fire

by FamiliarBoomerang (ThisIsTheDungeonThatNeverEnds)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Agni Kai (Avatar), Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Post-Canon, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Racist Language, Slurs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsTheDungeonThatNeverEnds/pseuds/FamiliarBoomerang
Summary: Aang finds himself in over his head when some wayward earth bending angers a Lieutenant who is determined to teach him what respect and honor mean in the Fire Nation.Please read AN.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	1. Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> The tags "slurs" and "racist language" refer to a single instance of the S slur being directed at Sokka as well as another very dehumanizing insult directed at Toph by the OFC. Please proceed with caution or not at all if reading such things will cause you any distress. 
> 
> The way I write my characters and portray the characters created by others is in no way meant to reflect my personal morals, beliefs, opinions, views, religious convictions, or political affiliations.

“I’m afraid you cannot do that, Zuko.” Iroh's face was serious as he shook his head.

“What do you mean I can’t!” Zuko shouted and slammed an open palm on the table between him and his uncle. “Do you really think something so violent is a good thing to carry into the future of the Fire Nation? Do you really think THIS,” Zuko pointed to the scar that covered the left side of his face, “is worth it?”

Iroh sighed and reached for his nephew’s hand, but Zuko pulled it back and crossed his arms. “Zuko, what Ozai did to you was inexcusable. But the Agni Kai is a tradition dating back millennia and is as old as the Fire Nation itself. You cannot simply abolish something so intrinsic to our heritage.”

“But our heritage is bathed in blood, Uncle! Didn’t you say I was the one who needed to restore our nation’s honor?”

“Yes, Zuko. And you will. But a beautiful portrait is made with small strokes of the brush. Small marks added to the canvas as the artist takes his time. As the paint-"

Zuko interrupted Iroh with a groan of frustration. “What does paint have to do with Agni Kai?”

“In this metaphor, you are the artist. The Fire Nation is the canvas, and the future you dream of for your people is the portrait. Restoring honor to the Fire Nation and bringing back the time of peace from before Fire Lord Sozen requires many changes, many small strokes. If you rush these changes, if your brush strokes are too heavy or too quick, your people will not adapt well. Your portrait will be ruined.”

Zuko hummed thoughtfully and his furrowed brow relaxed only slightly. “So you’re saying abolishing the Agni Kai would be too big of a brush stroke?”

“It would be like dumping the entire bucket of paint on your work-in-progress portrait.”

Before Zuko could reply, there was a pounding against his chamber doors. Zuko and Iroh stood quickly. “You may enter,” Zuko ordered.

Two guards pushed upon the heavy double doors and bowed before crossing the threshold. “Fire Lord Zuko,” one guard began, “there has been an incident in the training arena.”

“What sort of incident? Is anyone hurt?”

“No one is injured, My Lord. But I should tell you first that the incident involves Avatar Aang.”

* * *

“Come on, Twinkle Toes, just ‘cause the war's over doesn’t mean you get to stop practicing.” Toph kicked a rock at Aang, who was laying on his back on the hard ground of the training arena.

Aang rolled over onto his stomach and exhaled a puff of air that propelled him up into the air just before Toph's rock would have crashed into head. He landed gracefully on both feet. “But Toph, I already practiced fire bending with Zuko this morning. I’m here to watch the soldiers train, not spar with you.”

“You’re not even watching them,” Toph said, pointing at the group of officers running through advances forms the other end of the arena. “You’re just lazing around. Sokka’s paying more attention to the drills than you are.”

Sokka, who was sitting on a bleacher sharpening his boomerang, looked up in surprise. “Someone said my name?”

“Don’t worry, Sokka,” Aang said, “Toph’s just pestering me.” 

“I wouldn’t have to pester you if you weren’t so lazy!” Toph stomped her foot hard on the ground, producing a stone pillar that shot up from the ground. With a roundhouse kick, she spent the pillar flying towards Aang.

“Lazy?” Aang shouted. He punched the pillar, splitting it in two, and the two halves fell to the ground. “I’m not the one who slept so late this morning that Katara had to dump water on their head!”

“That’s beside the point!” With another stomp, she sent a row of rock spikes shooting out of the ground in a straight line towards Aang. 

Aang matched Toph’s form and sent his own spikes, larger and faster crashing through the ones directed at him. 

The spike row traveled farther than Aang had intended, tearing through the ground between him and the Fire Nation officers on the other side of the arena. He dug in his stance and tried to slow the rocks momentum, but it was too late. The spikes tore through an entire row of training dummies set up for the drills.

“What in Agni's great name do you two children think you’re doing?” boomed a voice from amongst the officers. A woman in an officer's uniform with long braided hair stormed towards them.

“You’ve reeeeealy done it this time, Twinkle Toes,” Toph whispered.

“Shh,” Aang silenced Toph before turning to face the officer. 

“You have torn the ground of our arena, destroyed our drilling materials, and disrupted the training schedules of ten Fire Nation officers. The disrespect is disgusting.”

“I'm very sorry, ma'am” Aang said, bowing low.

“Lieutenant Shizu. So you know the name and rank of the one whose hard work in setting those dummies you destroyed.”

“Maybe I could make it up to you by helping you set them back up again,” Aang offered.

Shizu scoffed. “I don’t want you or your little friends touching anything else in this arena, understood?”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Aang said, bowing again. “Again, I’m very sorry.”

“I don’t want your groveling, brat. I want your respect.”

“Hey!” 

Aang turned around to see Sokka running up behind him. 

“Do you even know who this is, Lady?” Sokka said to Shizu. He pointed to Aang. “This is the Avatar!"

“I know and I don’t care! In fact, that makes his insolence all the more appalling. I understand a dirt worm and a snow savage not knowing how to behave, but from the Avatar I expect far better.”

“Don’t call them that!” Aang yelled. “Toph is a genius earth bending master and Sokka is a brave and honorable warrior of the Southern Water Tribe.”

“Ha! Honor? You don’t know the first thing about what honor means in the Fire Nation!”

Aang chuckled and muttered under his breath, “I mean, I heard plenty about it from being around Zuko.”

Toph and Sokka laughed, but Shizu balled her fists and let a puff of smoke out from her nostrils. 

“ _Fire Lord_ Zuko has just as much to learn, but it is far from my place to teach him. But you, I can teach. You I can show what it truly means to be Fire Nation.” She stepped back and brushed the dust that Aangs earth bending had kicked up off of her uniform before staring him in the eyes with a smirk.

“Avatar Aang,” she said, her voice the calmest he Aang had heard from her so far, “I challenge you to an Agni Kai.”

Toph slapped her hand over her face. “Oh, you’ve reeeeeealy gone and done it now,” she groaned.

“Shut up, Toph,” Sokka whispered through clenched teeth, “this is serious now.”

“Oh, it’s always been serious, great water warrior,” Shizu mocked. “So, Avatar. What say you?”

Sweat began to bead on Aangs forehead, and a single drop rolled down the point of his arrow. He felt the tension in his body and knew his nervousness must be apparent to the Lieutenant. He forced a smile. “I say…I’m uh…”

“Out with it, boy!”

“I’m flattered that you would invite me to participate in such a long-standing Fire Nation tradition,” he answered, voice wavering slightly. “It would be my pleasure to accept.” He bowed low, not only to show respect but to hide the fact that his eyes were beginning to widen with terror. 

Shizu rolled her eyes. “Ignorant child. I will arrange for us to meet in the Agni Kai chamber tomorrow at noon.”

Aang did not rise from his bowed position until he was sure that Shizu had returned to the opposite side if the arena. He then spun around and gripped the sides of his clean-shaven head.

“Oh, this is bad,” he said. “This is bad, bad badbad bad!”

“Calm down, Aang,” Sokka reassured him and clapped a hand on his back hard enough to send the air bender stumbling forward. “You could take on a dozen Shizus, no problem. Actually, you have taken on a dozen fire benders at once. You’ll nail this Agniwhatever.”

“Agni Kai,” Aang corrected Sokka. “And winning isn’t what I’m worried about.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Zuko's the problem! He’s going to be angry! And worried! And he’s going to try to stop it! Which will make everything worse! Not to mention, have you forgotten I'm a pacifist? I don't like fighting! The fighting is supposed to be OVER!" Aang flopped down onto the ground, crossed his legs. And buried his face in his hands. 

“Forget Zuko,” Toph said, sitting next to Aang. “I don’t want to be within a mile of this place when Katara finds….uh oh.”

“Uh oh what?” Aang asked, not looking up.

Sokka sucked in a sharp breath. "Don’t look now but, um…”

“Hey, guys. How’s the training going?”

Aang waived his arms and a gust of air lifted him to his feet and spun him around.

“Oh, hi Katara. Training’s going great, getting stronger every day!” Aang flexed his arms and offered Katara a crooked smile.

Kataras face went deadpan. “Okay, what’s going on?”

Aang laughed stiffly. “Well, um…”

“Actually,” Sokka interrupted, “let’s talk somewhere else.” He grabbed Aang by his bicep and practically dragged him back towards the palace.


	2. Honor

“I don’t believe this!” Katara yelled, pacing back and forth in Aangs bedroom where Team Avatar had deliberated. “I leave you three knuckleheads alone for an hour and you get in trouble with Fire Nation officers!”

“I’m sorry, Katara,” Aang said sitting on the edge of his bed, head hung low.

“Yeah, me too,” Toph, who was laying on her back in the bed, apologized. “I guess I’m the one who actually started it.”

“Oh, you guess! You just don’t know how to leave Aang alone do you? Always going off on-"

“She said sorry, Katara!” Aang interrupted the water benders tirade. 

Katara breathed deeply. “Aang,” she sat on the edge of the bed next to him and took his hand in hers, “you can’t fight Shizu.”

“But Katara, I have to. I already accepted the challenge and saying no now would be going back on my word. Besides, I have to show them all that I respect Fire Nation culture. And I told you what she called Toph and Sokka. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t defend them? I have to prove-"

“Prove WHAT! Your honor? You’ve been hanging around Zuko too long. This isn’t about honor, Aang. This is about setting an example that the fighting is over and no one needs to resort to violence.”

“People don’t change over night, sis,” Sokka said. “Zuko's been Fire Lord for what, like two weeks now, and these officers are as hard headed as they are hot headed.” Sokka laughed. “Get it! They’re HOT headed because they’re fire benders! HAHA!”

Toph sat up and stretched her arms over her head. “Bad puns aside, Sokka’s right. An entire country isn’t going to change their culture just because someone gives an inspirational speech about hope and change.”

“And I may have been born in an air temple, but as the Avatar I’m just as much Fire Nation as I am Air Nomad. Or Earth Kingdom. Or Water Tribe.” Aang brushed a stray hair behind Kataras ear and smiled softly. “I have to do this, Katara. I don’t like it any more than you do, but I don’t have a choice.”

The four jolted when the door opened with no knock. 

Someone muttered something to someone, and Zuko stepped into the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind him. 

The Fire Lord held eye contact with the Avatar as he approached slowly until he towered over Aang and Katara.

“No,” he said in a rough, cracked voice.

“No what?” Aang asked, feigning ignorance.

“You know what!” Zuko shouted, causing Aang to jump back. “You’re not fighting an Agni Kai against Lieutenant Shizu. As soon as I leave here I’m going to find her and order her to redact her challenge.”

Zuko did not turn around at the pounding on the door.

“Zuko, we have discussed this,” came Irohs voice. “You have to let Aang make his own decisions.”

“Well I’ve made MY decision, Uncle. This isn’t happening!”

Aang stood up and pushed his way past Zuko. “It’s not your decision to make.”

“Aang, STOP!”

“NO!” Aang unlocked the door and let Iroh in.

“Uncle, please let me handle this.”

“Zuko-"

“There’s nothing to handle,” Aang insisted. “Come on, Zuko. Let’s talk somewhere, just you and me.”

Before Zuko could protest, Aang took him by the hand and lead him out the door. 

“Aang, you can’t-" Zuko objected when he was sure they were out of earshot of the others.

“Zuko, will you please just listen to me?" Aang stopped and let go of Zuko.

Zuko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine.”

“Look, if you order Shizu to take back her challenge, everyone will think I asked you to do it. They’ll think I’m a brat and disrespectful and all the other things she called me. They’ll…” Aang turned away. “They’ll think I’m a coward. Again”

“It doesn’t matter what they think, Aang.” Zuko rested a hand on Aangs shoulder. “I spent so much of my life obsessed with my honor, afraid that it depended on what other people thought. About what my father and sister thought. But then I learned that a man makes his own honor by doing what he believes in and it doesn’t matter if people call him a coward. You helped teach me that.”

“But it does matter! For ME, it matters! We’re trying to set the world right, and I need people to trust me, not think I’m going to go behind their back and weasel-rat my way out of my commitments. I can’t run away from what I’m afraid of the way I did before. I said yes, Zuko. I can’t go back on my word. _That's_ what _I_ believe in. That’s how I make _my_ own honor.”

The two were silent for several minutes before Zuko spoke.

“I guess,” he admitted reluctantly, “That makes sense. It’s just that I’ve hurt you so much. I know you’ve forgiven me, but I’ll still spend the rest of my life atoning for my wrongdoings. Not just mine, but my father and grandfather and great grandfather, too. If you got hurt inside my own palace, I would never forgive myself.”

Aang took hold of the hand that still rested on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll be fine,” he said, smiling up at Zuko. “I’m confident I can win. But even if I don’t, I don’t want you to blame yourself.”

“Easier said than done. But I trust you. Your fire bending has improved a lot.”

Aang winked. “I have a pretty good teacher.”

Zukos face flushed and he pulled his hand away. “I’d feel a lot better if we ran some advanced forms this evening. Maybe my uncle could help, too.”

“If you say so, Sifu Hotman!”

“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT-" 

Aang didn’t let Zuko finish his sentence before taking off on an air scooter, his laughter echoing through the halls.


	3. Focus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops... This has been on hiatus since October. Let's just say this fic has had a turbulent development cycle that you know a little bit about if you follow my on Tumblr @familiarboomerang. Anyway, here's the fic. I hope it's good...

Zuko sat alone in the small sparring gymnasium, legs crossed, eyes closed, and his hands in his lap. It was dark save for the ring of candles that surrounded the mat he sat on, and the empty one across from him, reserved for Aang once he arrived. His breathing was slow and deep. The fire would swell when he inhaled through his nose and wane when he exhaled through his mouth. It was a lesson in focus and control that his uncle had taught him years ago when they had first set out on their… voyage.

The door opened and closed quietly. Though he’d been expecting Aang, the gait and weight in this person’s step wasn’t that of the young Avatar.

Zuko opened his eyes and the lighting in the room only allowed him to see a silhouette of Iroh approaching. Zuko smiled crookedly. “Thanks for coming, Uncle.”

“I’m always here when you need me, Nephew. I’m here for Aang, too.”

Zuko sighed and the candles flickered almost completely out before returning to normal. 

“You’re deeply troubled, Zuko,” Iroh said.

“Gee, I wonder why,” Zuko quipped back, grimacing. “Everything about what’s happening, the entire reason we’re here, I hate it all.”

“Zuko, Aang made his-”

“I know!” Zuko’s anger made the candles flare and Iroh took a large step back. “I know Aang made his choice! I respect that. I really do. It’s just…”

Iroh nodded. “It is not a choice he should have had to make in the first place.”

Zuko turned the scarred side of his face away from Iroh. “An adult challenged a thirteen year old boy to an Agni Kai. To teach him what? Respect? Honor? It’s disgusting!”

Iroh hummed thoughtfully. “I feel like we’re no longer talking about Aang. But Zuko, this is a different situation.”

“How? How is Shizu different from Ozai?” Zuko stood in the middle of the ring of candles. “How is this duel any more justified than the one I was challenged to?” His hands formed fists at his sides. “How is any of this  _ right _ !” The shout of the last word wiped out the candles leaving the room in total darkness. 

“Zuko,”

“And don’t you _dare_ try to placate me! I _ tried _ to prevent this and  _ you _ stopped me!  _ You _ left Shizu with the option to challenge Aang!  _ You  _ let this happen!”

The door slammed open before Iroh could defend himself, letting in a blinding light that Aang stepped out of. He marched toward the two fire benders, fists matching Zuko's and scowl matching Iroh's. 

“Calm down, Zuko!”

“Calm down? How do you expect me to be calm when-”

“We’ve talked about this!” Aang waved a gust of air at the door, slamming it closed. In the darkness he managed to find his mat, sit down, and begin pinching the wicks of the candles to relight them. 

Zuko huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, we’ve talked about  _ you _ ! We haven’t talked about how it was wrong of  _ Shizu _ to challenge you! Or how  _ I _ feel about having to allow something that I find inexcusable!”

“Yeah, I get all that,” Aang said, getting into his own meditation position and keeping his voice surprisingly calm. “Shizu was wrong. But I still have to fight her. That’s the end of it.”

“Aang is right,” Iroh agreed. “This is not about you, Zuko.”

“Oh, so the whole ‘illusion of separation’ and ‘everything is connected’ spiels from you two are valid when it comes to your spirit nonsense, but not for me comparing Shizu to Ozai?”

“That’s,” Aang started to object, then stopped, “That’s a good point, actually.” 

“Fine,” Zuko said, not aggravating the candles this time. “Let’s just get on with your fire bending lesson.” He sat back down on his mat.

“Not before you apologize to Uncle Iroh. None of this is his fault and you know it. Besides, we don’t want your fire coming from your anger anymore, remember?”

Zuko closed his eyes and breathed as he had before, swelling and lowering the candle flames as he did so. After a few calming breaths he opened his eyes. “I’m sorry, Uncle. I know none of this is your fault. The only one to blame is Shizu.”

Iroh smiled. “And together, we’ll make sure Aang is ready to make her regret challenging him.”

“Soooo….” Aang said looking around at the candles, “how are candles going to do that exactly?”

“It’s about focus,” Zuko answered. “Close your eyes.”

Aang did as instructed. “Think about the Agni Kai arena. Think about the people watching.”

Aang did. He pictured the faces of Shizu’s men, who'd been there to see her challenge him. He thought about his friends watching. His girlfriend watching. He thought about Katara, how much she hated that this was happening, how much she feared for him. He thought about how her hair would look like umber in the fire light, how she would be clutching her hands to her chest as Shizu’s flames come a bit too close to him…

“What’s on your mind?”

“Katara,” Aang answered with a smile, his voice breathy and light.

“Well, stop.”

Aang opened his eyes again. “But you told me to think about the people watching. And Katara will be there, right? She’ll be worried the whole time. Watching me…” Aang started at some empty space just past Zuko. “Cheering for me, seeing how my fire bending has gotten better,”

“Okay, okay, yeah, Katara will be in the audience, but trying to impress your girlfriend is going to get you hurt.”

Aang hung his head. “That’s what the lesson is about, isn’t it?”

Zuko nodded. “Eyes closed.”

Aang closed his eyes again.

“Shizu’s men, my entire council, Katara, Sokka, Toph. They'll all be watching," Zuko reminded Aang, to which Aang nodded, obediently keeping his eyes closed this time. "But you can't break focus. Not once. Not for half a second. If you do, it's over. I had you picture them to get it out of your system. Now I want you to focus on the fire around you. I want you to control it with your breath. Remember what I taught you on Ember Island, right?”

“Power in fire bending comes from the breath, right?”

“Exactly. Use your breath to control the candles. Breath in deeply through your nose and make them taller, then shrink them again when you breath out.

Aang nodded again. His first attempt was shaky, the flames grew only slightly and at uneven heights and flickered when he breathed out. He groaned in frustration.

“Again,” Zuko instructed. “You have to be patient as well as focused. Call back to your earth bending training.”

“Earth bending training got me into this mess,” Aang grumbled under his breath.

“Aang.”

“Right, right. Focus. Got it.”

The second try was better, if only slightly.

By the third repetition, the candles had stopped flickering on the exhale.

By try number eight, his technique was nearly perfect.

“I did it!” Aang exclaimed when he finally did it right.

Zuko smiled. “Yes you did. Now keep going.”

“But I learned how to do the breathing candle thing already! Can’t we spar now?”

“You learned the technique, yes. But now you need to learn to maintain it. That’s the lesson. I want you to keep moving the flame with your breath for ten minutes. And before you ask, if you stop to ask how much longer, You’ll start all over.”

Aang whined but closed his eyes anyway.

“While you’re doing this, Uncle and I will try to break your focus. We’re going to talk to you. Don’t respond. We’re going to run forms. Don’t look at us. Only when I say ‘you may stop now, pupil Aang’ will you be allowed to stop the exercise. Understood?”

“Understood.”

Aang resumed the exercise. In and out. Up and down. Push and pull. It reminded him of water bending, the way the flame moved fluidly with the rising and falling of his chest, like the tides moving in and out with the rising and falling of the moon. 

“I think my Dancing Dragon form is a bit rusty,” Iroh said to Zuko.

“I can go through it a few times with you,” Zuko offered. “Maybe Aang and I can let you watch us first. Aang, do you want to help me?” 

Aang heard Zuko, but other than the slight tug of an almost-smile on the corner of his mouth did not acknowledge him. His flames never faltered, even as the sound of Iroh and Zuko's fire bending echoed in the room. Even as they asked him casual, passing questions as they moved through their forms over and over again.

“Pupil Aang,” Iroh said, “You may stop now.”

Aang jumped to his feet. “Finally! Can we spar now? Can I fight you both at once? It’s been a long time since I’ve really seen  _ you _ fire bend, Uncle Iroh.”

Zuko shook his head. “What you can do,” he said, voice strained, “is sit back down.

“What!? But you said-”

“I said when  _ I _ say ‘pupil Aang, you may stop now.’ I didn’t say it. Uncle did. So start over.”

“Aaahh! That’s not fair!”

“Those were my instructions. You didn’t follow them. Come morning, a mistake like that can and will cost you the Agni Kai. So do it again.”

So he did it again.

The flames went higher and flickered for his first few breaths. 

He was angry that Iroh had tricked him. He was blaming Iroh the same way Zuko had, and his anger was coming through in his bending.

He didn’t want that. So he reminded himself that it was his responsibility. He brought the responsibility on himself when he was reckless with his earth bending. And again when he accepted Shizu’s challenge. And again when he accepted Zuko’s offer to help him train for the duel. So he let his anger go and breathed.

In and out. Up and down. Push and pull. 

“Impressive focus, Pupil Aang,” Zuko praised, meeting no response from Aang. “I bet the others would be as impressed as I am.”

“I think Katara would be  _ very _ impressed by you,” Iroh agreed.

Aang faltered at the mention of Katara, but only slightly. A single candle wavered, but was quickly recovered.

After that, he lost time. All there was was his own breath, his own fire. His focus. He almost missed it the next time Zujo spoke directly to him.

“Pupil Aang, you may stop now.” 

Aang stopped. He slowly cracked one eye open to see Zuko standing over him and braced himself for another trick.

Zuko nodded and smiled. “Good job.”

Aang stood slowly this time and winced as he shook out his numb right foot.

“Now can we spar?”

“You versus me and Uncle. You wanted to fight us both, right?”

“Yep!”

“Think you can take us?” Zuko taunted, quirking his eyebrow and aiming a fighting stance at Aang. Off to Aang’s side, Iroh did the same.

“You two are just a teenager and an old man,” Aang teased with a sideways grin.

“We’ll make you regret that, Avatar. And remember: fire bending only. Anything else counts as a forfeiture and a loss.”

Aang wasn’t about to make that mistake. He learned his lesson with Iroh’s little trick. No breaking concentration. No falling back on his native element like he had a bad habit of doing. He would win with his focus, his fire, and his honor. 

Iroh and Zuko were going down. And In the morning, so was Lieutenant Shizu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I know you probably wanted to see Aang 1 v 2 Iroh and Zuko, but I have to save my limited action scene skills for the actual Agni Kai.


End file.
